Digital transformation happens to be one of the most talked-about terms among small and midsize businesses (SMBs) today. According to a Google-KPMG report, digitally engaged SMBs boost profits up to twice as fast compared to their offline counterparts. The induction of digital platforms allows SMBs to uncover new market opportunities, driving overall growth.

Figures Worth Noticing

The economic value of digital transformation is expected to reach $100 trillion by 2025.

Twenty-one percent of organizations believe their digital transformation efforts are complete.

According to Gartner,"Eighty-seven percent of senior business leaders say digitalization is a company priority, and 79% of corporate strategists say it is reinventing their business creating new revenue streams in new ways."

Nearly71% of leadersfirmly believe that the role of the workforce crucial in implementing digital transformation.

Digital Transformation

Those numbers should be convincing enough for SMBs to integrate technologies within their business workforce if they haven't done so already. However, of all the means available to disrupt almost any industry, data is at the forefront.

From analytics to AI, data never fails to amaze the scientists working on uncovering the potential of digital transformation. According toGartner, 90% of the organizational strategies will be based on relevant information by 2022, which means that data will have a value higher than ever.

However, the data received is raw, and to put this data to use, the data is first analyzed, segmented and studied. It helps business leaders to have a better view of market trends, customer expectations and future outcomes. Needless to state that the present face of business is highly competitive, and SMBs must take a step forward and take up measures that own the potential to better their overall operational efficiency.

Why Do SMBs Need Digital Transformation? (Traditional Vs. Digital)

Data has been a part of every industry since the beginning, and so it was just a matter of time before business professionals would eventually contemplate utilizing this data to enhance their organizational efficiency.

But how or why?

The top-scale organizations have already invested in digital technologies to better their everyday business functions and gain a cutting edge in the competitive market.

From robotics to automation, machine learning to predictive analytics, modern-day organizations are driven digitally, and it's time that SMBs get over their traditional form of operations.

The traditional form of business relied on word of mouth to promote brand visibility and managing multiple spreadsheets manually instead of using seamlessly integrated cloud solutions. However, the digital business economy mandates the usage of online marketing methods to enhance a brands value and connected cloud-based solutions to improve operational efficiencies.

And to top it all off, the traditional form of business focused on prioritizing profits, but the digital marketplace is focused on customers above all.

Getting Started

If you own an SMB and are looking to get started with digital transformation, start by discussing what digital transformation is with your team and how it will affect your business. A few questions to consider:

What are the different aspects of your business that lag behind your competitors?

Which elements in the existing business plan need to be replaced or technologically upgraded?

What operations consume a lot of time and can be automated?

Implementation

Once you have analyzed and examined the different areas that need to be improved, move ahead with the adoption of trends that promote digital transformation within your organization:

Digital presence with end user in mind: To be competitive, having a digital presence is a must. A website is not enough, but a thoughtful website that is built with your end users and customers in mind and helps push them deeper into your sales funnel is a must for your business, along with a presence on other digital platforms your customers regularly visit.Along with having a website,you also need to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile devices. As perGoogles 200 ranking factors, mobile-friendliness is one of the significant things to take into consideration, and there are now 3.5 billion smartphone users.

Predictive strategies: Whereas the traditional form of business worked on guesswork, the digital era relies on data to analyze and study human behavior. Based on the previous user interaction, companies drive data and then use this data to analyze how a user would react in a particular situation.

Omnichannel presence and interconnected systems: Digitization has a ubiquitous presence, and there is now a whole generation of users who are not platform-specific. So, in order to reach out to most of them, you need to work on creating an omnichannel presence to promote your products and services. You also need a robust integration strategy for all these channels to get a 360-view of operations.

Future

This is just the start. The gamut of digital transformation is huge, and there is more to this than meets the eye. According to research,85% of decision-makers believe that they need to integrate digital methods within their operations in two years or less.

With such huge investments, the future of digital transformation will see technology at the core of every business operation and customers as king. However, there will be dramatic scarcity in the available skills and resources, and top leaders need to focus on that and work toward curbing its impact.

What you can do is stop anticipating and start working. Are you ready for change?

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Why Digital Transformation Is A Necessity For All SMBs - Forbes